1.Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connector in which an operating force required for fitting with a counter connector is reduced by a cam function.
Further, the present invention relates to a connector having a slider which reduces an operating force required for fitting with a counter connector, and also to a connector device including such a connector.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a connector having a function of reducing an operating force required for fitting with a counter connector is known in, for example, the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei10-021992.
The connector comprises a housing which holds terminals, and a holder which slidably supports the housing. A swinging lever which is a cam member is interposed between the housing and the holder. The swinging lever is attached to the housing so as to be swingable, and has a cam groove which is to be engaged with a pin disposed in a counter connector, and an engagement pin which is to be fitted into a guide groove disposed in the holder. The shapes of the cam groove and the guide groove are set so that, in accordance with relative sliding motion of the housing with respect to the holder in a state where the cam groove of the swinging lever is engaged with the pin of the counter connector and the engagement pin is engaged with the guide groove of the holder, the swinging lever swings with respect to the housing, and a force of fitting the connectors with each other is generated by the swinging.
In the connector, namely, relative sliding motion between the housing and the holder (slider) is converted by the cam function of the swinging lever into a force of fitting the connectors with each other, so that a large fitting force is obtained by a small slide operating force.
Problems to be Solved
Such a connector is assembled in the following manner. First, the swinging lever is attached to the housing so as to be swingable. While the swinging lever is held to a predetermined swinging angle position with fingers or the like in order to prevent the lever from freely swinging, the engagement pin of the swinging lever must be engaged with the guide groove of the holder. This work is complicated and cumbersome, and hence impedes improvement of the production efficiency. When terminals and wires connected thereto are mounted to the housing before the assembly work, it is more difficult to conduct the assembly work because the wires and the like obstruct the work. Therefore, the terminals and the like must be mounted after the assembly work is ended. Consequently, also the work of mounting terminals is cumbersome.
Related Art
Further, conventionally, a connector having a function of reducing an operating force required for fitting with a counter connector is known in, for example, the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. Hei11-040250.
The connector comprises a housing which holds terminals, and a support member (slider) which slidably supports the housing. A cam mechanism configured by a swinging lever and the like is interposed between the housing and the support member. In a state where the swinging lever is engaged with a driven pin of the counter connector, the housing and the support member relatively slide over each other, so that the sliding force is converted by the force boosting function of the swinging lever into a fitting force of the connectors which is larger than the sliding force.
In a connector of this kind, the relative position of the support member (slider) with respect to the housing must be held to a predetermined one in a stage where the connector has not yet been coupled with the counter connector. As means for this, the following configuration is disclosed in the patent publication. A movable arm (flexible piece) is elongated from the support member toward the housing, and a protrusion piece which inwardly protrudes is formed on an inner side face of a hood formed in the housing. A tip end portion of the movable arm abuts against the protrusion piece to fix the relative position of the housing and the support member to an initial position (provisional latching). Under this state, when this housing is to be fitted with the housing of the counter connector, a tip end portion of the housing of the counter connector pressingly opens from the inner side the tip end portion of the movable arm, whereby the provisional latching is compulsively canceled.
Problems to be Solved
In the connector disclosed in the patent publication, the movable arm for provisional latching is shaped so as to be largely elongated from the support member toward the housing. Therefore, the size of the support member is increased by the degree corresponding to the length of the movable arm, and the movable arm is easily broken in a step of transporting the support member, a step immediately before assembling, or the like. Consequently, it is difficult to handle of the connector.
In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the invention to facilitate the work of assembling the whole of a connector and improve the production efficiency of the connector while connector fitting by a small operating force is enabled by a cam function.
Means for Solving the Problems
As means for attaining the object, the invention provides a connector wherein the connector comprises: a housing which holds a terminal that is to be fitted with a counter connector; a slider which is attached to the housing to be relatively slidable; and a cam member having a first cam portion which is engageable with a cam component disposed in the counter connector, and a second cam portion which is engageable with a cam component disposed in the slider, shapes of the first and second cam portions are set so that, when the slider relatively slides with respect to the housing in a state where the first cam portion is engaged with the cam component of the counter connector and the second cam portion is engaged with the cam component of the slider, a sliding force is converted by a cam function of the cam member into a fitting force of the connectors which is larger than the sliding force, and a latching portion is disposed in the housing, the latching portion disengageably latching the cam member to a swinging angle position where the second cam portion is engageable with the slider.
According to this configuration, the cam member is latched to a predetermined swinging angle position by the latching portion disposed in the housing, and hence the slider can be mounted to the housing without difficulty while maintaining the latched state. The latching of the cam member by the latching portion is canceled during or after the mounting. When the connector is to be fitted with the counter connector, the cam member is enabled to exert the cam function. Namely, fitting of the connector with the counter connector at a sufficient force can be realized simply by relatively sliding the housing and the slider over each other by a relatively small operating force.
The latching of the cam member may be canceled by directly operating the latching portion with, for example, fingers. Alternatively, a configuration may be employed in which a latching canceling portion which, when the slider is to be engaged with the second cam portion, compulsively cancels the latching of the cam member by the latching portion is disposed in the slider. According to this configuration, when the slider is to be mounted (i.e., the slider is to be engaged with the second cam portion), the latching canceling portion automatically cancels the latching of the cam portion, and hence the assembly work can be further simplified.
As a specific configuration for canceling the latching, preferably, a bending portion which is flexurally deformable in directions along which the bending portion is contacted with and separated from the slider is disposed in the housing, the latching portion is disposed in the bending portion, and, when the slider is to be engaged with the second cam portion, the latching canceling portion of the slider flexurally deforms the bending portion to displace the latching portion of the bending portion, thereby compulsively canceling the latching.
According to this configuration, by using flexural deformation (elastic deformation) of the bending portion, latching of the cam member by the latching portion disposed in the bending portion, and cancellation of the latching can be easily switched over.
In this case, preferably, the latching canceling portion is, for example, a latching canceling protrusion which protrudes in a direction toward the bending portion, and the latching canceling protrusion presses the bending portion to flexurally deform the bending portion.
With respect to the second cam portion and the cam component to be engaged therewith, preferably, a configuration may be employed in which the second cam portion is a cam protrusion which protrudes toward the slider, a cam groove into which the cam protrusion is to be fitted is disposed in a side wall of the slider, and, during a period when the slider reaches a position where the cam protrusion is fitted into the cam groove, the side wall of the slider in which the cam groove is disposed overrides the cam protrusion while being flexurally deformed. According to this configuration, even in a state where the cam member is previously attached to the housing, the side wall of the slider overrides the cam protrusion disposed on the cam member while being bent, whereby the slider can be easily caused to reach the position (mounting position) where the cam protrusion is fitted into the cam groove disposed in the side wall of the slider.
As described above, in the connector according to the invention, mounting of the slider can be easily conducted while the cam member is latched to a predetermined swinging angle position in the housing. Before the slider is mounted, for example, a terminal connected with a wire can be mounted to the housing. Unlike the conventional case where mounting of a terminal connected with a wire must be conducted after a slider is mounted, therefore, the slider may have a shape which covers from a rear side a wire connected to the terminal held by the housing, so that the slider can be used also as a wire cover.
Further, in view of such circumstances, it is another object of the invention to provide a slider-equipped connector and a connector device which can be easily handled and has a compact structure, and in which fitting of connectors is enabled by a small operating force.
Means for Solving the Problems
As means for attaining the object, the invention provides a slider-equipped connector comprises: a housing having a terminal holding portion which holds a terminal that is to be fitted with a counter connector; a slider which is attached to the housing to be relatively slidable; and a force boosting mechanism which is interposed between the slider and the housing, and which converts a relative sliding force between the slider and the housing, into a fitting force with respect to the counter connector, the fitting force being larger than the sliding force, a hood which surrounds the terminal holding portion with forming a gap between the portion and the hood is formed on the housing, and a provisionally latching portion is formed between the hood and the terminal holding portion, the provisionally latching portion provisionally latching the slider to a slide initial position in a state where the connector has not yet been fitted with the counter connector, and being flexurally deformed to cancel the provisional latching.
In the slider-equipped connector, the provisionally latching portion is accommodated in a space between the terminal holding portion of the housing and the hood, and hence the housing can be maintained to have a compact structure although the provisionally latching portion is formed. Since the provisionally latching portion is protected from the outside by the hood, there is no fear that the provisionally latching portion is erroneously broken in a step of transporting the housing, a step immediately before assembling, or the like. Therefore, the connector can be easily handled.
When the relative position of the housing and the slider is fixed to a predetermined one (i.e., the slider is provisionally latched to the slide initial position) and an operation of fitting the slider-equipped connector with the counter connector is then started, the operating portion of the counter connector bends the provisionally latching portion to cancel the provisional latching of the provisionally latching portion, so as to attain a state where the housing and the slider can relatively slide over each other. The sliding force is converted by the force boosting mechanism into a large fitting force of the connectors, whereby fitting of the connectors is enabled by a small operating force for sliding.
The provisionally latching portion may be formed on the side of the terminal holding portion of the housing. More preferably, the provisionally latching portion may elongate from an inner side face of the hood of the housing in a connector fitting direction, and may have a shape in which an end portion is flexurally deformable in directions along which the end portion is contacted with and separated from the inner side face of the hood. When the provisionally latching portion is integrated with the hood in this way, the degree of freedom in design of the terminal holding portion, i.e., the body of the housing is enhanced, and the shape of the housing of the counter connector which is to be fitted with the terminal holding portion can be simplified.
For example, a waterproof sealing member which is to be in contact with a housing of the counter connector may be disposed on an outer peripheral face of the terminal holding portion. This enables an excellent waterproof structure to be easily constructed.
In the case where the provisionally latching portion is formed on the side of the hood, the hood may have a shape which allows the flexible end portion of the provisionally latching portion to be locally exposed to an outside of the hood, whereby the flexible end portion is enabled to be bent by a manual operation with using, for example, fingers. Therefore, the provisional latching can be canceled by such a manual operation in a stage where the slider has been provisionally latched to the housing and the connector has not yet been fitted with the counter connector.
Furthermore, the invention provides a connector device wherein the device comprises the slider-equipped connector and a counter connector having a housing that is to be fitted with the housing of the slider-equipped connector, and an operating portion is disposed in the counter connector, the operating portion, when the counter connector is to be fitted with the slider-equipped connector, operating the provisionally latching portion of the slider-equipped connector to deform the provisionally latching portion in a direction along which the provisional latching of the slider is canceled.
In the case where, as described above, the provisionally latching portion elongates from an inner side face of the hood of the housing in the connector fitting direction, and has a shape in which an end portion is flexurally deformable in the directions along which the end portion is contacted with and separated from the inner side face of the hood, and the counter connector has a hood which is to be fitted with an outer side of the terminal holding portion of the slider-equipped connector, the provisional latching of the provisionally latching portion can be canceled by a simple configuration in which an operation protrusion is formed on an outer peripheral face of the hood, the operation protrusion, when the counter connector is to be fitted with the slider-equipped connector, pressingly operating from an inner side the provisionally latching portion of the slider-equipped connector to deform the flexible end portion of the provisionally latching portion in a direction along which the provisional latching of the slider is canceled.